PopCereal (pōp sērē el) n. 1. the certain bit of socially transmitted trivial behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought beloved by the generation of the Saturday morning cartoon 2.pop culture at garage sale prices

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Film's That Made Me a Monster Kid #2: 13 Ghosts (1960)

This movie showed me the sweet sweet joys of being terrified. Oddly enough, I watched this movie on a quiet, tranquil Sunday morning. Sunday morning TV, when I was a kid, was very laid back. We'd watch the local morning show, called Shhhhh, and then some Laurel & Hardy, and Davey & Goliath. This one morning, for some reason, the wiseguys at the local TV station decided they'd put a creepy, ghost story on, for all the kiddies to watch, before their moms and dads got up for church.

I was mesmerized!

Until that cobwebbed covered ghost squished a victim in the killer canopy bed!! The unique look of those ghosts was never really duplicated in other films -- I'm not sure why. The corpse-like features and cobwebs, sometimes cloaked in the traditional clothe. I thought they were creepy then, and still do! The Zemeckis/Silver remake of 2001 was a fairly unfrightening, overindulgent, effects-laden attempt to bring horror into the big budget blockbuster world. After seeing that flop, I was really wishing that Ghost # 7 would drop the dynamic producing duo into a hole filled with acid. Sizzle!